Oh the horror if a mother actually believed she knows what she is doing when taking care of her baby. So when the danger of self-belief surfaces, the mother is instructed to visit the doctor so that the doctor (and the nurse) can make sure that mother knows that everything they are doing is wrong! 
It's a nice system and it really works.So yeah, today I had a doctor's appointment. First things first... Remember she weighed 3382g at birth and around 3000-3100g when we left the hospital. Today she was weighed and she's ***DRUM ROLL*** 4720g!!! For people using percentile charts, that puts her near the 75% weight gain. 50% would be average and 100% would be "What the hell are you feeding that kid - lard?!". So she's definitely growing well. Length has gone from 50 cm to 54 cm. With average growth being 2cm in a month for the first 5 months I think 4 cm is very good.
Anyway, the nurse was inspecting her and pointed to her round belly. "Did you just feed her? No? Then she might have gas, OH she must be in pain!". The baby was just lying there looking at her with confusion after just waking up. "Have you been giving her tummy time?." I then told her that the baby only seldom lies on her stomach because she doesn't like it at all. "Lets see.". So she rolls the baby on her stomach after which the baby gets very uneasy and starts to cry like she's forced to be in a really uncomfortable position. The nurse gets all confused.
"That sounds like PAIN-cry! Her tummy must be hurting. Oh, this is not good. I'll get the doctor to see this!" and then she rolls the baby on her back and walks out leaving me baffled and thinking, I told you my baby doesn't like lying on her stomach and is seldom forced to be in this position.The doctor walked in, inspected her, then adjusted the diaper a little bit (because the nurse had folded it down
) and put her on her on her stomach again. The baby was uneasy but didn't cry. Then my baby raised her head up high and the doctor and the nurse got to make a tick in the file indicating that my baby can hold her head at one month age. Then I was interrogated and I got scolded when I admitted that I haven't always remembered to give my baby her daily D-vitamin. It felt like I have put my baby in grave jeopardy. Perhaps I do underestimate the power of taking daily vitamins and I promise to make more effort with giving D-vitamin to my kid in the future.Then the doctor and the nurse noticed that my baby prefers to hold her head to the left and told me I have to put rolled up cloth on that side. This way she can't look to the left and the muscles will develop on the other side as well. It's probably because baby's bed is against the wall and it's boring to look to the right. I'll switch her head-toe direction for a while.
Baby was hungry, so they instructed me to feed her there. They saw that my baby eats correctly and finishes with a sleepy and satisfied expression. Doctor also commented that this is what feeding looks like when there is no shortage of milk. At least something good.
And like a cherry on top of the entire event, when I started leaving and strapped the baby in her safety seat (for her taxi ride), she decided she's still hungry and started to cry. Then she realized I have no plans of feeding her again so she started screaming a little... I quickly got my things and exited to the hallway where about 20-30 people were ogling at me!
What kind of mother tortures the baby for her to cry like that... I'm not making this up. They really were all staring at me!That was my "fun" time at the doctor's to remind me not to get too cocky with my ability to take care of my kid. Walked away with this wisdom: More D-vitamin, more looking to the right, and the knowledge that my baby is a big girl.
Of course they stare. They are bored and every change in scenery is warmly welcomed. :D This doesn't necessarily mean they hold contempt or anything. You were just the fun part. (Am I being too cynical or what?)
ReplyDeleteAbout this tummy-time: the doc probably said that you should do it anyway, whether she likes it or not. Otherwise she cannot develop/practice/use all necessary muscles. If I remember correctly, they don't usually like it because a) it feels weird (the head is waaaaay too heavy, esp in the beginning!) and b) they don't see as much as they usually do. But just keep putting her every once in a while. Eventually, she will like it. And it is a predisposition for holding her head up and, later on, crawling etc.
Round belly: I'm not the expert, of course, but (again, if I remember correctly!!) if it is stiff, then it is not very good. Belly should be generally rather soft. Pille, I guess, has at the moment much more knowledge about that :)
(D-vit... I'll probably get scolded now, but I forgot it more often than I gave the children, esp Sander...)
Nice to hear I'm not the only one who forgets about putting some foul-tasting oil into a baby's mouth when she least expects it. One time a drop of D-vitamin oil fell right into her throat and the started caughing and gasping for air, poor thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm also hoping she'll get used to stomach position. I'm quite proud of how she hold her head. With so little tummy time I think she learned it very fast.
A friend told me that one woman breastfed her baby and the kid gained 1 kg in the first month - the family doctor then said that the baby is gaining TOO FAST and should be put on a "diet". The mother should start to breastfeed less often! That's so horrible. :D especially because my kid gained roughly 1300g in a month when calculating by birth weight and even 1600g in about 3 weeks if calculating from her minimum weight. My doctor still said "feed her when she asks for as long as she wants".
I am by no means an expert on round bellys at the moment. Fortunately, our doctors have never felt the need to alarm mothers. With Uku, I also didn't give him enough tummy time. First I thought he would break and later he was uncomfortabel with it. Then at the first visit to doctors they encouraged me rahter than scolded on the issue. Now Tormi is nearly 3 weeks old and he quite likes being on his tummy and is proudly holding his head and being in general very fit baby. And my god, no dieting for babies. One of the good thing about freastfeeding is that is significanlty redyces grown-up obesety as babys learn to getulate their own food amounts and they know what and how much to eat. I try to remember this when I ask Uku to have yet another bite :p
ReplyDeletehaha. It's said to be part of mother's instinct to feed the child as much food as possible which is why many women try to get their kids to have one more bite... From nature's point of view an infant is supposed to eat as much as she's able to turn into "growing fuel". No dieting for breastfeeding kids!
ReplyDeleteNow that baby has a stuffy nose we keep her on her belly much more often. First salt solution, then belly time and then nose pump. By now belly time is her favourite part of this procedure. Yesterday he held her head and occasionally also her chest. Very good for 5 weeks old. I read in an Estonian forum that many otherwise normal kids can't hold their head at 3 months!!! :-o